CAR RENTAL REVIEWS ON THRIFTY AT GEORGE BUSH INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT, IAH

Very economical, and the rental company is quite reliable.

Like: Everything
Dislike: NA

Thrifty and Dollar at Houston IAH airport operate together. I was attended by a middle-aged woman, seemingly of Eastern European descent, at the Dollar counter. She insisted I buy full insurance, but I repeatedly said I wanted the basic insurance plan as per my reservation. She became unhappy and told her manager that I didn't have my passport, which led to the manager refusing to rent me a car. My passport was at my home in Houston, and I only had my driver's license with me at the airport. I forgot to bring my passport. Although my family sent a photo of my passport to my phone, they still wouldn't let me rent the car. They insisted I take a cab they contacted to go home and retrieve my passport, which would cost me $160. Left with no choice, I rented a car from another company, which did not require my passport, to go home and get it. By the time I returned to the airport with my passport, it was already 10 PM. I had to return the car by 5 PM on the 27th at the Houston Medical Center location because that's when they close. If I returned it after 5 PM, I would have to return it the next day and be charged an extra day's fee. So, although I rented the car for two weeks, I effectively used it for less than two weeks, losing 5 hours in total. This company hides behind various rules and regulations to inconvenience customers, but I want to report this to the rental platform. I hope the platform has the influence to complain about this company. My experience with their Houston locations was extremely poor.

When picking up the car, the store staff kept adding various extra charges (mostly insurance). After I told her I didn't need them, she would remove the cheapest one, and this process repeated several times, wasting a lot of time. Eventually, she insisted I keep a third-party liability insurance, claiming it was necessary as it was not included in the original rental contract. Additionally, there was a small incident when picking up the car. One staff member told me I could choose between two cars, and I picked a newer-looking red one. At the exit, another staff member said the red car was already reserved and asked me to switch to the other car. While transferring my luggage, I forgot my backpack in the red car, which had my wallet (various credit cards), laptop, and other items. I drove to my friend's place over 60 kilometers away from the airport. It wasn't until after dinner (around 10 PM) that I realized my backpack was missing. Unable to reach anyone by phone, I had to drive back to the airport. Fortunately, the duty manager had kept my backpack and checked its contents. Despite driving over 100 kilometers round trip and returning to my hotel late at night, I was relieved to recover my backpack.

Forced to buy insurance during a late-night rental.

At Houston Airport, we took a shuttle to the car rental center to pick up the car. The hall was spacious, and the staff were very friendly. Highly recommended!